Bacon-Wrapped Meat Loaf

I stumbled across this post – ironically on VEGGIELAD4LIFE.COM – guess she made it for her husband. Amazing…

Bacon-Wrapped Meat Loaf

Ingredients:

2 yellow onions (one large, one small)

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1/2 c. finely chopped celery

2 cloves minced garlic

2 lbs ground beef¬† (I used 80/20)

1/2 c. crushed crackers (I used those butter crackers√Ę‚ā¨¬¶ that always come with soup at a sandwich place√Ę‚ā¨¬¶ you know?)

1/4 c. marinara sauce (had some open in the fridge√Ę‚ā¨¬¶ tomato sauce is what the recipe calls for)

1 T. dried parsley

1 large egg

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1 T red wine vinegar

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

10 slices of thick-sliced bacon (enough to wrap the meatloaf√Ę‚ā¨¬¶ whatever works for you)

Directions:

1.¬† Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.¬† Line a baking pan with foil.¬† Cut the large onion into thick slices and lay them on the bottom of the pan in 2 rows.¬† This creates a rack for the meatloaf.

2.¬† Finely chop the small onion and celery.¬† Heat the oil in a skillet on medium-low heat and fry the onion and celery until tender, but do not let the vegetables brown.¬† Keep the skillet covered during this cooking time.

3.¬† Uncover and add the minced garlic.¬† Fry for 1 minute, then take off heat.¬† Let cool.

5.¬† Line a loaf pan with wax paper.¬† Lay the bacon strips across the pan, and then pour the meatloaf mixture on top of the bacon strips.¬† Wrap the loose ends of the bacon around the meatloaf.¬† Then, invert the pan over the baking pan with the sliced onions.¬† Lift the loaf pan off the meatloaf, and peel off the wax paper.¬† You should have a nice loaf resting on your sliced onions.